Top 10 Richest People in Virginia & How They Got their Wealth

Top 10 Richest People in Virginia Right Now

The number of billionaires on Forbes' 35th annual list jumped to an unprecedented 2,755 people, 660 more than a year ago. Altogether, they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion in 2020. Among those on the list, 86 percent are richer today than they were a year ago.

In Virginia, the median annual household income is just under $65,000, which is a mere drop in the ocean compared to the incomes and net worth of some of the state’s wealthiest residents, as there are many multimillionaires and even billionaires who call Virginia their home.

Jacqueline Mars, an heir to the candy fortune, is at the top of the list of the wealthiest Virginians, with a net worth of $31.8 billion. To put that in perspective, that would mean that Mars' wealth alone would be roughly equivalent to the yearly salaries of 484,468 Virginians making the state's average yearly income, which is $64,607.

With her net worth, Mars could buy whole Smithfield hams for 2.1 million families in Virginia to celebrate Easter next year.

Here is a look at the 10 richest people in Virginia and how they accrued their wealth.

Who are Richest People in Virginia?

1. Jacqueline Mars

2. Pamela Mars-Wright

3. Daniel D’Aniello

4. Matthew Calkins

5. William Conway, Jr.

6. Gottwald family

7. Winifred J. Marquart

8. Michael J Saylor

9. Steve Case

10. George Pedersen

*******

Top 10 Richest People in Virginia in 2022/2023

1. Jacqueline Mars

Photo: doanhnghiephoinhap

Net worth: $31.8 Billion

Jacqueline Mars is a businesswoman and heiress from the United States. She is the granddaughter of Frank C.

Mars and the daughter of Audrey Ruth and Forrest Mars, Sr., the founders of the American confectionery corporation Mars, Incorporated.

However, If the name doesn’t ring a bell, concentrate on the last name and a few of your favorite things. Jacqueline Mars’ pocket is stuffed with M&Ms, Snickers, and Mars bars, to name a few.

Ms. Mars is the heiress to the Mars Candy company and is ranked #22 on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s wealthiest individuals.

She was ranked #16 on the Forbes 400 list of America’s wealthiest people in 2014.

2. Pamela Mars-Wright

Photo: twitter

Net worth: $8 Billion

Pamela Mars-Wright is the daughter of Forrest Mars Jr. and the niece of Jacqueline Mars. Previously, she was the chairman of the board of Mars Inc. However, she is now a supervisory board member of Heineken International, the Dutch brewing company, while also working as an ambassador to the Mars pet care division. When Mars-Wright’s father died in 2016, she inherited an eight percent stake in Mars, Inc. Mars-Wright is married to plant manager Lonnie Wright, and they have three children together.

3. Daniel D’Aniello

Photo: syracuse

Net worth: $4.6 Billion

Daniel D’Aniello is the chairman and co-founder of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm based in Washington, D.C. He is also one of the richest people in Virginia.

He didn’t always have a fortune at his disposal. Before entering Syracuse on a scholarship, he bagged groceries to assist his single mother pay the expenses.

In Addition, Hard effort and clever business maneuvers have garnered him a fortune and a spot on Forbes’ Top 500 after getting his M.B.A. at Harvard.

D’Aniello, who is worth $200 billion and resides in Vienna with his family, is in charge of the day-to-day operations of his organization.

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4. Matthew Calkins

Photo: itbrief

Net worth: $4,1 billion

Appian, a cloud computing and software development firm situated in Virginia, was created by Matthew Calkins when he was 26 years old. He is also one of the richest people in Virginia.

However, He is now the company’s C.E.O., after it went public on the Nasdaq in May 2017. Appian has 350 customers, with over one-third of them appearing on the Forbes Global 500 list of the world’s largest corporations.

Matthew Calkins enjoys playing and designing board games in his spare time, and he has won the World Boardgaming Championships.

5. William Conway, Jr.

Photo: pinterest

Net worth: $4 billion

No surprises here – William Conway Jr. is one of the founding partners of The Carlyle Group, along with Daniel D’Anellio, also on this list of wealthy Virginians. The pair share the position of CEO of the company. Conway studied for his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth University and then earned his M.B.A. at the University of Chicago. He lives in McLean, Virginia, with his wife. The couple has one son, William Elias Conway III, who ran in the 2020 Democratic primary election, and his father donated $10.5 million of his personal fortune to the unsuccessful campaign.

Conway’s son made national headlines when he ran in the Democratic primary against Chicago’s incumbent prosecutor, a race he ultimately lost. Much of his son’s campaign funding came from Conway’s fortune.

Where is Virginia Located? As shown in the given Virginia location map that Virginia is located in the eastern part of United States. Virginia map also illustrates that it is the coastal state located on the western Atlantic Ocean. Hence, in the eastern side, it has the coastline along the Atlantic Ocean; however, the state shares its border with North Carolina in the south, Tennessee and Kentucky in the south-west, West Virginia in the west, and Maryland in the north. Virginia in the U.S. Map Interestingly, the nickname of Virginia is “Old Dominion” and sometimes it is also known by the name “Mother of Presidents” because surprisingly, Virginia is the birth place of 8 US Presidents. The capital city of state is Richmond; however, Virginia Beach is the most populous city and Fairfax County is the most populous political sub-division of the state. Moreover, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest legislature in the United States. Due to its geographical location, the climate type of Virginia varies from warm to humid; the warm current Gulf Stream modifies the local weather system of Virginia.

6. Gottwald family

Photo: richmond

Net worth: $ 3,1 billion

Forbes ranks the Gottwald family as the seventh richest person in Virginia, as their cumulative net worth is $ 3,1 billion. Floyd Gottwald is the founder of Albermarle Paper Manufacturing. In 1962, he bought Ethyl Gasoline Corporation for $ 190 million, which at the time was the largest buyout in history. Although Gottwald died in 1982, he left some very wealthy people behind his family. His family still owns stakes in NewMarket Corporation, formerly Ethyl, and its two spin-offs, Albermarle and Tredegar Industries.

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7. Winifred J. Marquart

Net worth: $3.6 billion

Winifred “Winnie” Johnson-Marquart is a $3.7 billion businesswoman from the United States. Winnie Johnson-Marquart is the great-great-granddaughter of Samuel Curtis Johnson, the founder of S.C. Johnson & Son Inc, and is currently based in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Cornell University is where she earned her bachelor’s degree. College attendance is a family tradition. She is the only family member who does not live in Racine, Wisconsin, where S.C. Johnson is based all year. However, She is currently serving as the president of the Johnson Family Foundation, which is a charitable organization. In comparison to other family members, she maintains a modest profile.

8. Michael J Saylor

Photo: danchoicoin

Net worth: $2.3 Billion

Saylor received an Air Force ROTC scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he met Sanju K. Bansal. Saylor took work with a consulting firm after graduating with a double degree in aeronautics and astronautics because he could not become a pilot due to a physical problem.

However, he is an American business executive and co-founder of MicroStrategy, a firm specializing in business analytics, mobile software, and cloud-based services.

The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything, by Saylor, was published in 2012. He is also the only trustee of Saylor Academy, a free online education provider.

Saylor has been granted 31 patents as of 2016 and has nine more patent applications pending.

9. Steve Case

Photo: chiefexecutive

Net Worth: $1.5 Billion

Steve Case is an American entrepreneur, investor, and businessman who has a net worth of $1.5 billion dollars. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Steve Case graduated from Williamstown College with a degree in Political Science. He began focusing on a career in marketing in the early 80s, working for such companies as Pizza Hut, Inc., Control Video Corporation, and Quantum Computer Services, which he also co-founded.

In 1991, he changed the company's name to America Online and chose to focus on creating community-based applications. His strategy paid off, and by 2002, AOL had 26.7 million subscribers. He served as AOL's CEO until 2003, when he stepped down in order to focus on his own series of initiatives funded by his company, Revolution, LLC. In addition to his work with Revolution, he is also chairman of the Case Foundation and serves as the Chairman of the Startup America Partnership. He also has a seat on the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and frequently speaks on television about initiatives to increase startup growth and longevity in the US.

10. George Pedersen

Photo: forbes

Net Worth: $1 Billion

10th on our list of richest people in Virginia is George Pedersen. George Pederson co-founded a ManTech International Corporation in 1968.

However, He served on the corporation’s board of directors from its inception until 1979, when he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors.

He was re-elected to this seat in 2020. Pedersen was the company’s C.E.O. from 1968 to 2018 and then the Executive Chairman from 2018 to 2020.

Moreover, Pedersen is also Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the Company. Pedersen serves on the boards of directors of many public and private companies and several industry associations.

Although the coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the United States economy, billionaires and richest people in Virginia and throughout the world are much wealthier than they were a year ago, according to the Forbes World’s Billionaires List.

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